[NEohioPAL] Berko reviews: Roe Green Center at KENT STATE and CLEVELAND STATE theatre

[Roy Berko]

College Theatre:  Roe Green Center @ KSU and METAMORPHOSES @ CSU
Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News Times--Olmsted-Fairview 
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--Cool Cleveland.com-

ROE GREEN CENTER @ Kent State University

On November 6, the Kent State Theatre and Dance program entered into a new 
world.  With the opening of the Roe Green Center, the programs took a large step 
forward when they increased their performance spaces, storage areas, added a 
grand new lobby, and updated their lighting and sound systems.  Added were  a 
lighting laboratory, acting studio, vocal coaching suite and theatre and dance 
classrooms, a dance rehabilitation studio, a jazz dance class, a dance technique 
studio and a swing dance studio.  All in all, the facilities are beautiful and 
practical. 

The building was made possible due to a large financial grant by local arts 
patron and activist, Roe Green.  An avid theatergoer, she received her M.A. in 
theatre from Kent State, has been a long time member of the KSU Foundation and 
School of Theatre and Dance and Porthouse Advisory Boards.  She is on the Board 
at the Cleveland Play House, where she is the honorary producer of 
“FusionFest.”  A graduate of Beachwood High School, where she was my student and 
got the “theatre bug,” she was recently inducted into the school's Hall of 
Fame.  She is lovingly known to the KSU theatre students as, “The Fairy 
Godmother.”

At the building's grand opening ceremony and ribbon cutting, the musical theatre 
program performed BRIGADOON, under the direction of Terri Kent.  A sprightly and 
well-focused production, it featured fine performances by Miriam 
Henkel-Moellimann as Fiona, Kaitlyn Warren as Meg, and Gunther Henkel-Moellmann 
as Charlie.

METAMORPHSES @ Cleveland State University

METAMORPHOSES, meaning "changes of shape,” is a classical narrative poem in 
fifteen books by the Roman poet Ovid, and is considered to be a masterpiece of 
Golden Age Latin Literature.  It the history of the world from its creation.  
The writing, which uses the mock epic form, follows an arbitrary writing pattern 
in which scenes are not always linked together in numerical order, leaping from 
story to story with little connection.
The CSU production is a script originally written by Mary Zimmerman, the 
Artistic Associate of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.  The local production is 
directed by Holly Holsinger.

With the purpose of staging a show that “reminds us of what it mans to be human, 
the director states, “These are our stories.  They belong to us.  They echo from 
the past.  The have become ingrained in our psyches.”

The production is a daunting task.  It requires a level of acting sophistication 
which, in some cases, is beyond the performance levels of the cast.  Vocal 
projection is often weak, the music sometimes drowns out the speaking voices, 
and the line meanings are not always clear.  In spite of these weaknesses, the 
play is well paced, the humor level is high, and the technical aspects are 
outstanding, especially scenic designer Russ Borski's set with a water-filled 
pool and shimmering gold infused back walls.  As for the performers, Stephen 
Farkas has a nice touch with comedy and Lew Wallace makes some excellent 
character transitions.

METAMORPHOSES runs though November 21 at the Factory Theatre on the CSU campus.  
For tickets call 216-687-2109 or go to www.csuohio.edu/theater
 
Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 
2010, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at 
http://royberko.info
His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com and NeOHIOpal (to 
subscribe visit http://mailman.listserve.com/listmanager/listinfo/neohiopal.)